


Soul Deep

by Miraculous Mumma (Andromedanewton)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, runs in line with season 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 09:30:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15816177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromedanewton/pseuds/Miraculous%20Mumma
Summary: Whenever you write on your skin or hurt yourself, your soulmate can read it/feel it.  Pidge and Keith don’t realise they’ve already met, choosing to communicate without giving much away.Beginning while Keith is in the Quantum Abyss.  You can tell, if you look really hard, which episodes are happening!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TOG84](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TOG84/gifts), [CutesyNotes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CutesyNotes/gifts).



> Heyo all!
> 
> So, this little fic was inspired by the following post by @lightningcrown on tumblr and just grew in my imagination until I had to get it out!  
> https://lightningcrown.tumblr.com/post/177383998692/alright-just-hear-me-out-kidge-soulmate-au
> 
> I was encouraged by tog84 and galaxykidge, although I confess I didn't need too much encouraging!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Krolia regarded her son curiously.He did this every night; once he thought she was asleep he removed the cuff from his Blades armour, slid his sleeve up, and used an inked stylus to mark his arm.She was never sure if he were writing, or drawing, but it was one of the few times he removed his armour, other than to bathe, and they did that separately.She had caught glimpses of his arm but never noticed anything out of the ordinary, not even slightly.Eventually she decided to get an answer she had to go direct to the source.

The fire was dying down and she had long since said goodnight to Keith, who lay on his side of the flames with his space wolf curled up against his back.It was only moments before he had his arm free and was again scrawling on his skin.

‘Why do you do that?’Her voice carried easily in the silence, making Keith jump and the wolf raise his head.

‘What?’He froze writing mid-sentence, the words disappearing before he completed them.

‘Your arm?Every night you write or draw upon it.Why?’

Keith shuffled around so he sat facing her crosslegged, the wolf moving with him so he could rest his head in Keith’s lap.‘I’m, uh, I’m communicating with my soulmate.’

‘Your soulmate?’She frowned in confusion as she repositioned herself to lean her back against the wall.‘I am unfamiliar with the term.’

‘I guess it’s an Earth thing.’He smiled slightly.‘Somewhere out there I have the one person I’m meant to be with, not everyone has it, it’s pretty rare, but one way to tell is that you can write to one another on your skin.Look.’He held up his arm as words appeared in a rounded hand.

Krolia leant forward and read what it said; ‘ _Did you fall asleep again?’_

‘I fell asleep talking to her before.’He chuckled at the memory before quickly writing a reply. _‘Sorry, my mom asked me what I was doing.’_ He scribbled as she watched, the words fading after a moment.

_‘Oh, family time!Didn’t mean to interrupt!’_

_‘You didn’t.We’re…travelling together at the moment.’_

_‘Cool.Do you get on well?’_

Keith glanced up at Krolia with a smile before replying. _‘Really well.’_

 

‘Really well?’

Lance’s voice made Pidge scream in shock.She had been so busy reading her soulmate’s replies she hadn’t heard him come up behind her, hadn’t even realised he was awake, and he was virtually touching her he had got so close.

‘Quiznak, Lance!You scared the crap out of me!’She shoved at him as she pulled her sleeve back down.

‘Well, if you weren’t making goo-goo eyes at your arm then you might have heard me.’He grinned as he walked around to face her.‘So, who is it?’

‘I…don’t know.’She replied, feeling the tingle of more words appearing even as she spoke, rubbing her arm slightly.‘We’ve been talking for…forever, but we’ve never shared personal stuff, you know?We figured we’d just know if we ever met.’

‘Check what they said.’He nodded towards her hand still working her sleeve against her skin.‘Don’t ignore it.I know how special it is.’

She gave him a grateful smile before pushing her sleeve up again, catching the words; _‘You still there?’_ As it began to fade.

_‘I’m here.’_ She replied. _‘My friend just showed up.’_

_‘Do you have to go?’_

_‘Maybe.I didn’t think anyone else was up, but he doesn’t have a soulmate so I feel kind of bad.’_

_‘I get it, you don’t want to rub it in his face.’_

_‘Well, maybe a little!’_

_‘That kind of friend, huh?My mom says hi, by the way.’_

_‘Hi, soulmate’s mom!’_

_‘She says she can’t wait to meet you and I’m not writing what else she said.’_

_‘Was it bad?’_

_‘Nah, she wants me to ask you a few questions.I think she wants to figure out if we know you.’_

Pidge laughed, Lance reading over her shoulder as she did.‘We’ve shared our genders, a few likes and dislikes, but not a lot else.’She explained. _‘We know enough for now, right?’_

_‘I think so.You know I hate to say goodnight, but it’s getting late here.’_

_‘Here too.’_ She said with a pang of sadness. _‘Speak tomorrow?’_

_‘Always.And maybe see you soon.’_

_‘MSYS.’_ She abbreviated as she always did, before quickly adding a kiss on the end and pulling down her sleeve, hoping Lance either didn’t see or wouldn’t comment.

‘That’s seriously cute.’Lance shook his head.‘I know not everyone gets a soulmate, but when you do…cute.’

Pidge frowned at him.‘You’re not going to, I don’t know, poke fun at me?’

He shrugged.‘My mom and dad are soulmates, I grew up knowing just how amazing and rare it is.I’m pleased for you.’

‘Thanks.’She replied, pleasantly surprised.

‘Do you have any scars?You know, that are his?’

‘Not really.’She shook her head.‘Every now and then I get a new bruise, but nothing too major.I'm guessing he’s a klutz.’

Lance laughed.‘Just make sure he keeps himself out of trouble until we get back to Earth.’

‘I can’t guarantee that.’She smirked.‘Besides, every time I feel it, I know he’s still out there.It’s like a reminder.’

‘You romantic, you.’He punched her in the arm hard enough to give her pins and needles.

‘Ow!What was that for?’

‘Tell him it was a gift from your friend.’He winked before leaving her to shake the feeling back into her tingling limb.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge stays up late to talk to her soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm an idiot! I thought I posted all four chapters! Oops! Here they come!

_‘What are you up to?’_

Pidge looked at her arm as Coran described their current location in detail, everyone’s eyes on him. _‘Actually having some downtime.I’m playing a game.’_

_‘Really?That doesn’t sound like you.You’re normally working.’_

She tried to stop herself smiling before replying, hoping no one would notice. _‘It’s a rare occasion, but fun!Just a sec, it’s my turn.’_

 

Keith stroked his wolf’s fur where he sat beside him.Krolia was cooking some meat he preferred not to know the identity of, while he gazed up at the star scape and shared a conversation with his soulmate.

‘What did she say?Is she busy?’Krolia asked as she turned the meat over the fire.

‘She’s playing a game.’

‘She finally got some rest time?’Krolia said in amusement, knowing how often Keith would contact this mystery girl only to find she was working late.

‘Seems so.’

‘Good.You don’t want her burnt out before you find one another.Come, dinner is ready.’

‘I’ll be right there.’He called before writing another quick message. _‘I have to go eat.Speak later?’_ He got to his feet and joined Krolia, the wolf not far behind, as always.

 

It was only much later, when Pidge and Hunk had finished stimulating the collapse of the wave pocket into a darkening perplexity, that she realised she hadn’t replied.She pulled off her sweater as she reached her room, her skin bare as though to remind her she had missed his last message.It was late, or early, depending on which day you considered it to be, and she kicked off her boots, then her shorts, and crawled onto her bed.She pulled a pen from behind her ear and wrote a quick note on her arm.

_‘Sorry I disappeared!Something came up!MSYS!’_

She didn’t expect a reply.She kicked down her covers until she could pull them over herself and removed her glasses.She had just began to doze off when her arm began to tingle and a smile spread over her face.She hit the light beside the bed and looked at her arm.

_‘You’re up early.’_

She chuckled to herself as the words disappeared and she wrote her reply. _‘Just getting to bed.’_

_‘Wow, your game must have really overrun!’_

They talked for over an hour, about things they’d like to do when they finally found one another, each reminiscing about things back on Earth without realising that was what the other was doing.

_‘Listen, I might be a bit sporadic in my replies for a few days, okay?It’s nothing personal.’_

Pidge smiled at his neat writing as it appeared. _‘Busy time coming up?’_

_‘Something like that.I’ll write to you whenever I can.’_

_‘That’s okay.Stuff is happening here too.’_

_‘Maybe it’s something in the stars?’_

_‘Maybe.’_ She paused before writing more, taking a chance. _‘I’ll miss you.’_

_‘I’ll miss you too.’_ He replied quickly, his hand stopping before he wrote what was on his mind. _‘I know we haven’t met, or talked about anything really personal, but…’_

Pidge stared at the words as they appeared, her stomach butterflying in nervous excitement.

 

‘Shit!’Keith shook the pen frantically.‘No, not now!’

‘Something wrong?’Krolia asked from opposite him.

‘My pen stopped working!’

 

Pidge looked at her arm as the words faded and no others appeared in their place.Maybe he had got busy sooner than he thought but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

 

‘You are normally better at keeping a close eye on your ink levels.’Krolia remarked as Keith crushed the berries he had been using as ink to pour into the pen he had fashioned.

‘I know.She distracted me.

‘She does that a lot.’He looked up to see her giving him a knowing smile.‘What was so important you couldn’t have left it until you next talk?’

Keith sighed and dropped the smoothed wood into the bowl.‘I was going to tell her I love her.’

Krolia blinked at him twice before replying.‘Then what are you waiting for?’

 

Pidge rubbed her eyes, having had no time to sleep before she was called away.She was now working on integrating the Galra shields with Altean tech and her tiredness was making it harder.

‘Go lay down, just for half a varga.’Hunk suggested, but she shook her head.

‘No, I’m good.I’ll just…I’ll sleep when I’m done.’

‘Somethings bugging you though, besides tiredness.If you need some time for, I don’t know, girl problems, you only have to say.’

‘It’s not girl problems!’She snapped, scratching her arm subconsciously.

‘It’s her soulmate.’Lance said as he walked across the room.

‘Lance!’Pidge yelled as Hunk uttered; ‘Her what?’

‘Soulmate.’Lance repeated.‘She’s rubbing her arm.Seriously, Pidge, take five and reply.’

‘It’s not that.’She replied, burrowing down in her seat.

He leant on her desk with one arm.‘Then what’s up?Tell Uncle Lance.’

‘Wait, you have a soulmate?’Hunk came over from his workstation to look at Pidge in disbelief.‘Since when?’

‘Since I was old enough to know what a soulmate was, I guess.’She shrugged.‘But he was about to tell me something that sounded important and now he’s gone totally silent.’

‘Cold shoulder?’Hunk asked in confusion but it was Lance who answered.

‘Not with a soulmate.Maybe something came up.’

‘He did say he was going to be busy but it felt like he really had something important to tell me.’She shifted to pull her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

‘He’ll get back to you.’Lance assured her.

‘Unless he’s dead.’Hunk said without thinking and they both glared at him.‘Sorry, that was insensitive.I’m sure he’s fine because if he was hurt you’d have felt it, right?Unless his death was instant, like having an aneurysm or being hit by a bus…’

‘You’re not helping!’Pidge yelped as she got to her feet and walked away.

‘What’s all the yelling about?’Allura asked as she entered the bridge with Shiro, Coran, and Lotor.

‘Pidge’s soulmate might have died.’Hunk said as she spun a glare on him.

‘He’s not dead!I’d…I’d know!’

‘Soulmate, huh?’Shiro walked over to the green paladin where she was pouting with her arms defiantly crossed.‘Congratulations.’He rested his hand on her shoulder.‘What was all the yelling for?’

‘He’s gone quiet, like mid-sentence.’She said quietly.

‘I’m sure he’s fine.Like you said, you’d know if something happened to him.’She nodded and sighed, but the whole thing had shook her up and he could tell.He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started walking her towards the door.‘Go take five.Take an hour if you need to.Kill something in the simulator, fix something you know you can, just go vent some of the stress you’re feeling about it.’

‘There’s too much to be done.’She complained, as Lotor leant towards Allura and asked; ‘What is a soulmate?’

‘You won’t accomplish anything if you’re this worried.You need to take a little time away.Clear your head.’

She took a long deep breath.‘I guess I could go grab a drink or something.’

‘Go on.’He gave her a gentle push.‘We’ll find you if we need you.’

‘Okay.’She nodded, heading towards the door.‘I won’t be long.’

‘She’s taking this really hard.’Hunk said as Shiro joined them, his expression thoughtful.

‘Who can blame her?Hopefully it won’t be too long before…’

He was interrupted by a whooping scream as Pidge came running back through the door.‘He loves me!’She squealed, waving her arm with the text on it matching her words.‘He loves me!’

Lance laughed as she threw her arms around Shiro excitedly.

‘Are you going to reply?’Lance asked.

‘Yes!’She grabbed the pen from her station and rapidly wrote back her own declaration of her feelings, large and with a heart on the end.

 

Keith’s face lit up as the words appeared on his arm, holding them out to Krolia beside him.She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gave him a brief hug.

‘I’m very happy for you.’She said sincerely.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Pidge are reunited briefly (and still don't realise).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me again! This is pretty much going on through Season 6 Episode 4/5 but you can work that out! Hope you all enjoy!

Lotor was a traitor.After all they had been through with him, he was nothing but a liar and a murderer, no better than his father.Keith and Krolia returned while Allura and Lotor were in the Quintessence field, bringing Romelle and the space wolf with them.

Allura was furious, throwing Lotor across the room, the team united in their desire to stop him, when an alarm sounded, the hangars breached, and Shiro fell to his knees, clutching his head as he cried in pain.

Pidge, Keith, Krolia, and the wolf raced to the hangar, the others staying behind to secure Lotor, which was when things changed.

Those in the hangar were fired upon, those on the bridge were defeated by none other than Shiro, who strode out with Lotor over his shoulder a moment later.Those in the hangar barely had time to realise what was happening as Allura’s voice yelled over the comms, and Shiro was soon away, taking their prisoner with him.

The paladins raced to their Lions, Keith taking the helm of Black.There was only one way to stop this, and that was with Voltron.

Lotor’s generals covered Shiro’s escape, challenging them several times until a wormhole appeared.They would never make it, not as a team, but alone Keith was able to propel Black through.

The remaining paladins returned to the castle, where the Lions were hooked up to recharge and repair, and Allura tried to find the whereabouts of their missing companions.

Alarms began to ring and the castle powered down, Pidge rapidly trying to fix the system, but whoever had hacked in had expected her and everything closed down, Pidge rubbing her arm frustratedly for the comfort it brought as she thought.

‘If this shuts down the teludav’s mass regulator, the ship, along with everything in the neighbouring subsystem, would be destroyed.’Coran told them worriedly.

Pidge was on her feet in an instant, running towards the doors.

‘Uh, where are you going?’Hunk called after her.

‘No time!’Was her sharp reply.

 

What Keith found shook him to his core, and that was before the battle, before Shiro attacked him.He had no choice but he refused to give up on the man he called brother.

 

The teludav was going critical and Pidge’s fingers flew over the screens before her.Her breath left her body sharply as she felt a blow on her back, realising it wasn’t her, but her soulmate’s pain she could feel, and she knew wherever he was he was also in trouble, but she couldn’t let that distract her.Blows continued to assail her body as the core began to change from blue to orange, Pidge gritting her teeth as her muscles spasmed, and then nothing.The power dropped and her companions turned to her in surprise, but she had other things on her mind.Her knuckles stung, then her chin felt as though it took a heavy blow.

‘Pidge, how did you do that?’Hunk asked as her hands gripped the console to try and help her through the pain she was sharing with her soulmate.

‘When I was scanning Shiro’s arm, I also made a copy of its programming.’She paused to catch her breath.‘I created a virus that could terminate all its command prompts, in case something like this ever happened.I never thought I’d have to use it.’

‘It’s a good thing you did.’Allura commented.‘Otherwise…’

She didn’t get to finish.Pidge’s back went into spasm and she cried out as her arms flailed.

‘Pidge!’Lance yelled, rushing to her and wrapping his arms around her to keep her still.‘What’s happening?’

‘My soulmate!Argh!’She screwed up her eyes tight as she explained with as few words as she could.Her body rocked in pain, she felt as though someone were beating her and her legs gave way, pain assailing her in wave after wave with no respite, and at the peak of it all her face felt hot, her cheek burned, and she screamed long and loud as Lance cradled her in his arms.The heat against her face stopped, instead her muscles burned, with overuse and exertion, but the sharp pains mostly abated and she was able to breathe slightly easier.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge worries for her soulmate, Allura saves Shiro, oh, and they figure it out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Last chapter (kind of)!!! I really hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I'm really tempted to carry this on through season 7!!!

### Chapter Text

_‘Are you okay?’_ Pidge wrote on her arm for the fifth time that hour.She still hadn’t had a response but she hoped, she wished, she would get one this time.She had left her sweater off so she could easily see any reply he might make while she worked on the castle systems, but still nothing.She really wanted him to be alright.

She thought about him frequently during their battle with Lotor and his generals, tried to keep him at the back of her mind as Lotor formed his own Voltron; in the Quintessence field where Lotor finally succumbed, the Lions taking a serious beating; and finally having to abandon the castleship.

Pidge had still heard nothing from her soulmate and she was beginning to wonder if he was fighting a war of his own, or if he was in some sort of trouble.Maybe she would never know if he was truly okay, he must have wondered where all the pain from the battle was coming from, what was happening to her, and she hated she had had to put him through that, but it wasn’t the first time and she suspected it wouldn’t be the last.

They landed their Lions on the nearest planet, to see what they could do for Shiro.They disembarked, Allura aiding Keith to lay Shiro on the ground.Allura was able to transfer Shiro’s spirit from the Black Lion into the clone body, turning his hair pure white, and though weakened he regained consciousness.

Each of the paladins was overcome with emotion, removing their helmets one by one as the Lions roared, while Keith held Shiro upright.‘Here, Keith, let’s lay him down again.’Allura helped him to do so, her helmet on the ground beside her and giving Keith the chance to do the same.

He reached for his helmet as he turned towards the team, his eyes tracking over each of them…until he reached Pidge.There was no mistaking it, the long slash burn from her chin up her cheek identical to his own from his fight with Shiro, and he knew just what that meant.All this time, all these years, his soulmate had been right under his nose.The way she spoke about her companions, how they were her family, how she loved each of them, and didn’t mind working because she was good at it, it was her, it had always been her.

He was on his feet and walking towards her without a word and she looked at him curiously.He removed his helmet as he reached her, throwing it on the ground and pulling her towards him, cupping her cheeks in his palms before pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss.Pidge gave a small squeak of surprise, her hands coming up to grasp his wrists as though she could stop him, but part of her didn’t want to.A really big part.

‘What just happened?’Hunk asked in surprise as Lance was the first to see the side of Keith’s face.

‘No way!’He laughed as Pidge’s eyes finally began to focus again, her eyes drawn immediately to the scar covering Keith’s right cheek.

‘It’s you.’She whispered as his thumb traced the skin over her cheekbone.

‘It’s me.’He smiled down at her.

Her face split into an enormous smile.‘I missed you.’She said before pushing up on her tiptoes and kissing him for all she was worth, threading her fingers through his hair as his arms wrapped around her waist to help hold her against him.

‘I missed you too.’He replied once they parted, rubbing his nose against hers.‘And I love you.’

She giggled, outright giggled and her cheeks turned red.‘I love you too, Keith.’

‘Wow.’Shiro said hoarsely.‘How long was I dead?’

It ruined the mood somewhat, Keith and Pidge laughing along with the rest of the extended team.

 

Pidge sat in the hold of Green in her makeshift bed that night.They had made the plan to return to Earth where her dad had plans for the castleship and they could hopefully build another, but for now they all needed to sleep.Or that was the plan.

_‘Are you awake?’_

Pidge chuckled at the message Keith sent her. _‘Are you kidding?I’m so excited I might never sleep again!’_

_‘I might be able to remedy that.’_

_‘Going to tell me another boring Blades story?’_

_‘I thought you liked my stories?’_

_‘I do, they really help a girl sleep.’_

Keith laughed at a her reply. _‘I promise it’s not that.Get Green to open up.’_

She sat up and tapped a few controls on her wrist computer, hearing the jaw lower and open, Keith’s almost silent footfalls coming a moment later through to the cargo hold.

‘So, how are you going to help me get to sleep?’She asked, tilting her head to one side curiously.

‘Budge up.’He made shooing motions with his hands and she did as he suggested, making enough room for him to slip onto the bed rather than in it.‘Now come here.’He held his arm out for her and she was grinning again as she leant on him, kissing him long and lingering before settling down with her head on his shoulder.‘Think this will help you sleep?’He asked quietly.

‘I think this will help me everything.’She sighed happily.‘Sweet dreams, soulmate.

‘Sleep well, Katie.’He murmured.

She operated the lights and they lay together in the darkness for the first of many times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks again to @lightningcrown on tumblr for the original idea, to tog84 and galaxykidge for the encouragement, to @lilianamcclain, which is my Rhi-Rhi's username here on ao3, and to everyone for reading, kudos-ing, commenting etc... because they honestly mean the world to me!
> 
> Let me know if you want me to try and continue this through season 7! That could be interesting!

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoyed it? Drop me a comment or come see me on tumblr @kidgetrash!


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